Homeland Security Articles

Former SoCal TSA Employee Arrested After Threats to LAX

“A former TSA employee who worked at Los Angeles International Airport was arrested Tuesday night after he allegedly made threats to terminals and left a suspicious package at the airport the same day he quit his job, the FBI announced early Wednesday as a bomb squad conducted a search in connection with the investigation.

Nna Alpha Onuoha, 29, a U.S. Army veteran from Inglewood, resigned from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Tuesday -- a position he has held since 2006 -- and left a package later that afternoon at the TSA\'s LAX Headquarters addressed to another TSA employee, according to an FBI statement.

The package was treated as suspicious and inspected by a Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad, but it only contained an eight-page letter detailing his disdain for the United States and other opinions about what led to his suspension and ultimate resignation.

Hours later, a man believed to be Onuoha called the TSA and told employees to \"begin evacuating certain terminals at the airport\" and said he would \"be watching\" to see if they followed his instructions, the statement read.

The terminals were cleared per his threats, but no threat to the airport was found.
Officials with the Joint Terrorism Task Force went to Onuoha\'s Inglewood apartment and found nothing except a note taped inside of his closet with an \"unspecified threat\" citing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks anniversary.

The letter read, \"09/11/2013 THERE WILL BE FIRE! FEAR! FEAR! FEAR!\" according to a criminal complaint filed against Onuoha by the United States District Court.

A third suspicious package mailed to a TSA office near LAX was linked to Onuoha, and prompted the office\'s evacuation Wednesday afternoon.

Onuoha served in the U.S. Army from April 2004 to April 2012, earning the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with \"M\" Device, and Nato Medal.

Residents at Westside Veterans Residence told NBC4 Onuoha \"stayed to himself.\"
\"As far as the veterans here are concerned, they have seen him every single day,\" said Ivan Mason, executive director of the U.S. Veterans …